don Quijote - Barcelona |
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| Date Submitted: | September 10, 2009 |
| Language School: |  don Quijote - Barcelona |
| Language & Location: | Spanish :: Barcelona, Spain |
| Classes & Instruction: | 5 out of 10 |
| School Facilities: | 5 out of 10 |
| Accomodation: | 1 out of 10 |
| Cost & Expense: | 1 out of 10 |
| Recommend: | No |
| Review: | not recommended. I didn't believe that the review from donquijote is the worst could really be unexaggerated. So I booked. I went to dq barcelona, stayed at the residence and realised how such a situation could occur. DQ is not a SCHOOL - it's a cash cow. The bottom line for them is money, and how obviously and unashamedly this shows is almost sad. The 'director' is a tyrant and acts as though everybody is a student in kindergarten and he is the fat playground bully who barks, has short term memory loss and acuses you of his errors, and tells you to "speak spanish" when you demand to have your rights as a customer, because he's obviously going to win every argument in spanish. He is incredibly rude, even though you are essentially a CUSTOMER yet he will treat you like a STUDENT when it is convenient for his "class planning" (as some classes are held until 7pm). This is absolutely unacceptable. Just because he is the "director" of his "school" doesn't mean anything to a customer. The customer is still always paying for something. And a bait-&-switch is what DQ seem to manage to pull on plenty of things. The staff in "administration" will always tell you that what ever problem or query you have at that time, is not what THEY deal with, you will need to ask moron number 2 at the admin desk who will be back in another 20 minutes/2 hours/day. This was such a bad experience for what was supposed to be a nice semi-holiday in Barcelona. If people wanted to be treated like children, they would not go to a place promoted like DQ Barcelona is promoted. The course itself - I've done better language courses elsewhere. Although the teachers are nice, some were obviously underqualified and couldn't teach/explain the language well. But then some were great. So it's just luck which ones you get. I don't believe they have very strict curriculums and so the material you cover is very much based on how your teacher teaches. And different teachers teach the same course levels - so there is a lack of consistency between classes in the same level. As a cash cow, DQ's lack of care whether or not you actually learn anything is apparent as there are no weekly/fortnightly tests. So in this respect, you are treated not as a Student but more like a customer. The residence was an absolute dump. The beds are terrible to sleep on. You can hear the springs screeching outrageously from any small movement. The bathrooms are either tiny or gigantic - but all tacky. The cleaning lady is atrocious. She's so rude and constantly suspicious of students leaving garbage in the bins, leaving plates in the dishwasher, 'stealing' her brooms, buckets. And the kitchen is disgustingly old. The lift is indefinately out of order. There are cockroaches in the 'dining' area. The vending machines are always breaking down after you put money in (and when you ask for this back at the school, they make it such a big issue that in the end you just cannot be bothered). The 24hr security at the residence which is advertised is actually only 24 hrs on weekends. All in all, the DQ-Barcelona experience made my experience in Spain unpleasant because I felt like what I had paid for was an institution (complete, with tyrant installed)to make me feel ripped off and hopelessly unable to exercise my rights as a customer due to their "terms and conditions", in which all the fine print really must be read before you consider booking. Don't be fooled by the facebook forums with 2 "opinions" of the school which are positive, as the DQ admin have obviously deleted all the bad reviews. Don't go here. Don't waste your money. There must be better schools who treat their students/customers with more respect or at least more consistency so you can have the benefits of at least being treated as a 'student' OR 'customer' and not only have to deal with the negative aspects of being either. |
| Submitted by: | Demitrioisanass 35 year-old :: Male Reviewer :: Czech Republic |
1 comments for this review
| Comment by: KAM From: Miami, FL December 31st, 2010 |
Hi Demitrioisanass...I plan to study at dQ Barcelona for 9 months starting in the next two months. Given your above review, it appears that I should not live in the residence (maybe not even in the new 4-star one scheduled to open April 2011). If you do not mind, could you e-mail me privately so we can discuss dQ Barcelona. Given the length of my stay, I think I may opt for a private apt or 4-star hotel. Would like to get your thoughts before I pay. I was promised a 10% discount if I pay by tomorrow. You can e-mail me at kammiami@gmail.com |
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